1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pillows, and more particularly, to an ergonomically wedge-shaped pillow that is designed to act as a fulcrum, with a person's head and neck becoming a flexible bar so that the pillow and the person's head and neck work together in unison, with the spine maintaining ergonomically normal postures as they pivot about the pivot points provided by the pillow.
2. General Background and State of the Art
Human beings spend about a third of their lives sleeping. The standard pillow that most people use during sleep is a rectangular pillow. Such a pillow provides poor sleeping support for the user. The support that is provided is generally uneven and can result in sleep disorders, serious discomfort and no relief from preexisting conditions, such as sciatica, low back pain, hip flexures, pelvic distortion, neck pain, impaired breathing, and shoulder dysfunction. A person who sleeps on the stomach with a standard rectangular pillow will often experience neck pain, which not only is a source of discomfort, but may also cause the person to forego the stomach sleeping position.
Ideally, a pillow should maintain a user's head and ears over the shoulders without much rotation of the neck.
A pillow should be configured so that when a user is lying on his or her side, the shoulder is slightly behind or ahead of the chest wall while still maintaining a user's head and ears over the shoulders without much rotation of the neck.
A pillow should be able to be used during sleep or as a therapeutic device in conjunction with a torso or a foot pillow to allow the user to lie on his or her left or right side stomach position to take pressure off of ankles, knees, and toes.
A pillow should be soft in any reclining position. When a person is lying on their side, back or stomach, the pillow should maintain the alignment of the spine.
A pillow should be adjustable by the user and provide even distribution of the load at the shoulders and upper back.
Ideally, the pillow should be compact, lightweight, and not include a number of spaced extension elements, which may take up valuable, or perhaps require unavailable, space.
Several prior art pillows for providing comfort and support to a reclining person are known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,141 to Meyer, et al., discloses a pillow with a generally rectangular shape with four slightly concaved sides. The Meyer, et al., pillow also includes an irregular-shaped hollow in its center. The pillow is designed to support a person lying on his or her back and left and right sides. Meyer, et al., is not designed to support a person lying on their stomach.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,330 to McCullough discloses an L-shaped pillow with a central body having two extension wing members that are joined on either side of the body by a traverse seam.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,863 to Craig discloses a substantially V-shaped pillow tapered so that the body presents a substantially flat surface from top to bottom when the arms are folded in contact with each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,890 to Roberts discloses a pillow designed to aid a mother during breast feeding. The pillow has a V-shape having one arm of the perpendicular V-shape wider than the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,048 to Varaney discloses a body-length pillow with a linear head supporting central portion having two body length extensions extending perpendicularly from the ends of the central portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,412 to Smith discloses an L-shaped pillow having a linear head supporting portion with a linear leg portion extending perpendicularly therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,510 to King discloses a pillow having a pair of generally oval or elliptical shaped portions attached perpendicularly to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,657 to Avery discloses a pillow assembly having a trunk with a head and leg pillow which may be removably attached in different rotational orientations to the trunk pillow.
The above pillows, excepting the Meyer, et al., pillow, are not compact in design and comprise a combination of linear members extending either linearly or essentially perpendicularly from each other.
There is no pillow designed to provide adequate support and proper body alignment for a user lying on their back, stomach or sides and that is compact and adjustable.